Morgan Stanley $MS Stock Bought by Lido Advisors LLC

Lido Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 220,464 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,347 shares during the quarter. Lido Advisors LLC’s holdings in Morgan Stanley were worth $41,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MS. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Morgan Stanley by 1.8% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 41,891 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,879,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 2,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $486,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,467,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Morgan Stanley by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 59,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,198,000 after acquiring an additional 8,500 shares during the last quarter. 84.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MS shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Morgan Stanley from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Zacks Research lowered Morgan Stanley from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Morgan Stanley in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Erste Group Bank lowered Morgan Stanley from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Morgan Stanley from $243.00 to $195.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $214.81.

Morgan Stanley News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Morgan Stanley this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley’s Vinyl Equity acquisition would add digital share-transfer and shareholder-recordkeeping capabilities, connecting companies’ equity administration needs with the firm’s workplace and wealth-management services. The strategic rationale is to deepen relationships with private companies and potentially retain more client assets through IPO transitions. Morgan Stanley to Acquire Digital-Native Transfer Agent Vinyl Equity
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley strategist Mike Wilson said the recent market correction may be nearing its end, while advising investors to remain selective. A market rebound could support trading and investment-banking activity, but this is a broad-market view rather than a company-specific forecast. Morgan Stanley strategist on market correction
• Negative Sentiment: Director Judith A. Miscik disclosed selling 2,480 Morgan Stanley shares for about $454,000, reducing her holdings by 3.72%. The sale may weigh slightly on sentiment, though its size is limited relative to her remaining stake. SEC filing of director share sale

Morgan Stanley Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MS opened at $187.55 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $194.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.58, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Morgan Stanley has a 1-year low of $152.80 and a 1-year high of $232.25. The company has a market cap of $293.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.23.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 14th. The financial services provider reported $3.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.93 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $20.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $19.93 billion. Morgan Stanley had a return on equity of 19.26% and a net margin of 15.63%. Morgan Stanley’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.80 EPS. Analysts forecast that Morgan Stanley will post 12.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Morgan Stanley Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Investors of record on Friday, October 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Morgan Stanley

In related news, Director Judith A. Miscik sold 2,480 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.21, for a total transaction of $454,360.80. Following the sale, the director directly owned 64,215 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,764,830.15. This represents a 3.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Morgan Stanley Profile

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company that provides investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. Its Institutional Securities business offers services such as financial advisory, capital raising, sales and trading, and research. The company also provides financial planning, brokerage and banking services through its Wealth Management business, while its Investment Management business offers investment strategies and portfolio management to a range of clients.